Category Archives: Final Thoughts

A Farewell to Nicaragua

March 1, 2015 rchock

My time in Nicaragua has come and gone, but leaves a lasting imprint on my dreams for ecology. I remember clearly the feelings I had about Nicaragua prior to departure – a mixture of hopes and anxieties about venturing into this unexplored chapter of my life. I had hoped for awe-inspiring sights and sounds but was troubled by the prospects of understanding a system in only 3 short weeks. I thought it would be difficult finding an interesting organism to study. However, I was luckily very wrong. Strange and fascinating organisms emerged every single day, and it even became difficult to settle on the two systems for the projects. My fascinations mostly revolve around insects as their unique shapes and behaviors are full of mysteries left to be explained. I always kept an eye out for small movements, no matter how small, and was rewarded by finding a cascade of different insects performing all sorts of mesmarizing behaviors.

My projects centered around a golden ant and the leaf cutter ant, each with their facinating set of behaviors that allows them to thrive in the rainforest. However, I will never forget the diversity of insects which gave me a true appreciation for the rainforest ecosystem. It was this mesmorizing abundance of different colors, shapes, and behaviors that fueled my curiosity there, and has reaffirmed my passion for ecology and my pursuit to understand the mystical world of animal behavior. This passion for discovery helped me rise up early in the morning to carry out my two projects all the way until dusk. Despite the sore joints and the looming reality that the days are passing by, I felt envigorated knowing that my efforts every day will help build a clearer picture of the world they live in. It is this paradox that has always captivated me: our world and the animal world exist in the same place and time, yet it is the mysteries of their actions that creates this coded world of animal behavior. I aspire to gain the tools and knowledge to unveil the mysteries of this secretive world, hoping to bridge their world with ours through educating others about the wonders of animal behavior. Nicaragua is a blessed stepping stone in my pursuit in ecology. My transformation may not be apparent in my before and after picture, other than a moustashe, but Nicaragua has truly revolutionized my perspective on ecology. I entered the rainforest with my own set of hopes and dreams, and leave with even stronger ambitions to make those dreams a reality.

Blog, Brigit, Final Thoughts

There and Back Again

March 1, 2015 rchock

It has been a week now that I have been back in my safe and cozy Hobbit hole and I find that I have this overwhelming conflicting sensation of elation and emptiness; elation because of the energy that surged through my body while I was in the forest and emptiness because of how much I miss it. Walking around the city, around campus, I feel like it’s a barren wasteland that’s virtually silent. Maybe there is a bird chirping to my left, or the siren of a fire truck coming up from behind me, or, maybe, the occasional cricket scuttling past my feet. There are no spider webs to peel off of my face, no spiders to make me curse with fright (I mean the ones here are quite puny after all), no colorful butterflies to dart before my eyes, no chorus of high pitched cicadas or chirping poison dart frogs, no mud to get my shoe stuck in and need to pull out with both hands.

Looking back at my first entry, it is obvious to me that I knew what would happen- I knew I was going to fall in love with the forest but I did not expect how deeply this love would become. This adventure has been perhaps the most insightful of my life. I feel like I found out a bit more about who I am- who Brigit is. The trees taught me to always take a moment to look up and not be fixated on the mud caked at my feet, the manic bobbing of the harvestmen spiders taught me to never be afraid to pursue the next question or the next step because it isn’t known which will be the last, the immortal leaf cutter ants taught me to always keep pushing forward because my work in life will be directed towards the benefit of the colony- of the world, my partner’s effervescent and vibrant laughter taught me to always spend a moment laughing about the beautiful ironies of life, and the gentle moments of silence from my peers and instructors reminded me to always have faith in myself and in my ambitions.

I feel the thirst boiling within my bones to figure out how to get myself back out there again- I know deep within my body that I want to dedicate my life to researching life and all of its beautiful small details that are crucial to the maintenance and improvement of the planet and all of those who reside in it. Maybe I am not Frodo, maybe I am not the chosen savior, but I will do everything in my power that I can do to work towards protecting the essence of all that is life so that others can have their own experience of finding themselves in the solace of nature like I have.

Blog, Final Thoughts, Kathleen

Peace in the Wild

March 1, 2015 rchock

As a child growing up in cities, my main connection to nature was through a box of many wonders: the television. Even though the box was inanimate, I could always feel the adrenaline rush through me as the box brought me to valleys in the Sahara desert, or to the frosty Alps to document unique animals. I’m sure that many of my modern day peers have shared this similar experience. But this ordinary experience has driven me to seek more than what is around me; to have a craving for the things that exist outside of our walled up world.

Through the past years, I’ve been taking this golden opportunity of freedom to embark on quests for knowledge around various parts of world. Just entering a different biome is like being in a whole different world. Each place had treasures of knowledge that I took away with me. However, not everything that was dreamed of as a child have held true. I have been fortunate enough to have opportunities to assist in research projects previously, and certain aspects of field research made me question my passion for this field. How trustworthy are the conclusions made? How successful or tolerable would applying the fruits of the study be in real life? Would the study be used to benefit the greater good or someone in particular? The technicalities of research blurred the excitement I once owned.

At the beginning, I hoped that this trip to Nicaragua was going to help me clear the doubts that I had. And after spending 3 weeks in the midst of nature, I’m more than ecstatic to say that it had. I thoroughly enjoyed every part of formulating a project, to carrying it out and just being filled with curiosity and awe with every thing I saw. Even trekking out into the field in the dark, all sweaty with flies swarming in your face felt like the best place on earth to be. Once again I felt like I was at home. The rainforest taught me that it isn’t about producing theories and answers to everything, but just seeking the fascinating and immense possibilities that are out there waiting. Research is just the form it takes to share these discoveries with everyone around you.

Final Thoughts, Lindsey

And So It Ends

March 1, 2015 rchock

I remember when I first found out that I was going to be trekking through the rainforests of Nicaragua for three weeks, three weeks seemed like such a short period of time. I had wished it could be longer. Sure, three weeks is a fairly short amount of time in the grand scheme of my life, but after having lived those 21 days in the rainforest, on a constant cycle of hiking, eating, planning projects and sleeping, I can tell you with confidence that three weeks is an eternity. I’ve mentioned it before, but it was an interesting thing how quickly everyone settled into his or her routines there. It felt like we had always been there and were just carrying out our daily lives as researchers studying in the rainforest. It was hard to feel connected to my life back in the US, because I was living in an environment that was entirely different. The lack of Internet and cell phone connection, the lack of hot water in our showers, the lack of the simple ability to flush toilet paper down the toilet, even the lack of clean clothes (hand washing clothes is doable, but when one moment it is sunny and the next there is torrential downpour of rain, you never know when they’ll dry), all became the norm.

Before arriving at Refugio Bartola, I didn’t entirely know what to expect. It was more stressful than I had anticipated, I think. Everyone was so motivated to do their best that our days consisted of perpetual thinking about and planning our projects. The never stopping got tiring, but made sense because we were in Nicaragua for a set amount of days and we wanted to make the most of those days. Timing was a tricky thing because it took about a week for my partner and myself to get a firm idea of what we wanted to study and how. The next week consisted of trying different methods and having to problem solve when we faced challenges. We spent two whole days collecting data before being helped by our TA to realize there are better variables we could be collecting data on. So those two days were scrapped from our final data collection. The last week was a push by everyone to run more trials and try to wrap up the projects. Then, the weather was unpredictable. There were a few days towards the end, when everyone was in high data collection mode, where it rained so heavily that some people couldn’t go out and collect their data.

Never in any previous class have I had the chance to appreciate how thorough methods must be laid out for a project to work. Every detail matters and you will without a doubt face challenges every time you step out in the field. I’m excited to now analyze our data and write it up in a scientific paper. To get to experience with the entire process is one of the most valuable things I’ve done in college. It’s not just an assignment done briefly in class, but actual scientific research that we’ve invested time in.